Not much was going on at Washington Park while I was there yesterday. A man sat on a bench and took in the weather. A woman relaxed on the grass and read a book while her baby napped in the stroller.There's often a game of tennis, basketball or raquetball happening. The park has swingsets and picnic tables, and recently-installed weight machines that use your own weight. The place is well-kept, and well-used most times of the day.
But while Boz and I moseyed through there yesterday, mostly all that was happening was shadows growing longer, or taller, as the case may be.
17 comments:
A wonderful picture of the shadows growing. Peace and quiet and solitude.
The shadows give the park a Trader Vic's vibe.
I love those log roofs - they add character to the solidarity of the structures. Very nice, Petrea!
Whatt a lovely park. THe arbor is indeed making some fine shadows.
V
And tennis courts. I like this park. Ten years ago it was all gang scrawls, broken jungle jims, and dead grass. Someone, probably many someones, brought it back to life.
wow, looks majorly improved from 20+ years ago or so when I was hucking a piece of rawhide around that park!
Love the lines!
It's a great park. I took another shot there that I think I'll post tomorrow. There are always a lot of kids and families there, usually a game of hoops going on.
I was going to say that you could have used this for your theme post on shadows, but Dina and Susan beat me to the punch.
For 7 years Washington Park was the home of the Latino Heritage jamaica. We used the ramadas for our craft area. At one point there was a marker commemorating the event.
I love giving background about this park!
Credit for the transformation of Washington Park really needs to be shared with the Friends of Washington Park and the Washington Square Neighborhood Association. They did tremendous neighborhood outreach to get volunteers who worked side-by-side with our Public Works crews, and they were at the table throughout the planning and implementation of the improvements.
They expressed the desire to restore the historic structure and beauty of the park, bring it into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and emphasize its association with Ralph Cornell and Theodore Payne, noted landscape architects and horticulturalists who designed the park in the early 1920s. (Soon after it came to be known as one of the most beautiful places in Pasadena, but years later it fell into disrepair.)
Much of the funding was provided by a Proposition 40 grant from the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. Washington Park was the only proposal in the Urban Core category to receive full funding.
The design team of Troller/Myer, Bob Perry and Onyx Architects designed ramada-style picnic shelters –- open structures roofed with branches for shade -– and a nature interpretive kiosk.
Extensive re-landscaping with new irrigation and indigenous plants, and a stage built from recycled stones are also featured in the 5.2-acre park.
The park retains most of its historical hardscape, including river rock structures such as the river-rock arched bridge and many of its original trees.
A couple of months ago there was a big cleanup and tree-planting at Washington Park, and the neighbors were right there once again!
I should have added that Washington Park was rededicated in all its improved glory in 2006.
Gad, sorry for the post-post comments! The funding I referred to was for the improvements, not for the original design/building of the park. Ditto the work of Troller/Meyer et al.
Also, big credit for the transformation should also go to City Councilman Victor Gordo and his field representative Vannia De La Cuba. They advocated for the improvements as well and worked closely with the neighbors.
Thanks for the comments, everyone. And to the Pasadena Public Information Officer (PasadenaPIO), special thanks. For those who don't read comments, I've gotten her permission to quote much of what she said in tomorrow's post!
Love the designs of the shadows! Nice photo.
Pasadena PIO rules.
i beleive its called handball.
a sport played by hispanics.
Yeah, I've seen a lot of handball there, too. Handball is played by a lot of people, not just Hispanics.
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